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Health law mandates higher Medicare payment for osteoporosis tests

The Boston Globe: "A $3 million campaign by doctors, scanner operators, manufacturers, and groups devoted to women's health helped persuade lawmakers to overrule Medicare administrators this year and restore much of the reimbursement for osteoporosis tests. In a little-noticed provision buried deep in the sweeping new health care bill, Congress decreed that Medicare shall pay $97 for each test, instead of $50.

1 Jun 2010

Women unaware of their heart disease risk: Report

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has come up with results of their study funded by the National Heart Foundation that warns Australian women of their heart disease risk. It says that heart disease is the leading killer of Australian women and most women (eight out of ten) think that heart disease kills only “old men”.

31 May 2010

Problems patients experience due to dental or skin conditions often misunderstood by care providers

Problems patients experience due to dental or skin conditions are often differently perceived by care providers. This is shown in a dissertation by Francesca Sampogna, a researcher in epidemiology at Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata in Rome.

31 May 2010

Ontario's doctors call for renewed effort in fight against tobacco

This World No Tobacco Day, Ontario's doctors are calling for renewed efforts to reduce the total number of smokers in Ontario. While the current government has shown leadership by implementing a number of initiatives to help reduce the use of tobacco and second hand smoke, there is still more work to be done.

31 May 2010

IMRT avoids xerostomia, but effectiveness on controlling cancer unclear

An advanced type of cancer radiation is more successful than traditional radiation in avoiding "dry mouth" when treating head and neck cancers, but it is unknown whether the treatment is better or worse at reducing the size of tumors, according to a new comparative effectiveness review funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

31 May 2010

Overall increase of cesarean births not due to maternal request

Fewer than two per cent of cesarean births in British Columbia were a result of maternal request, but the number of cesarean and assisted vaginal deliveries varied widely across health regions in B.C., according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers.

31 May 2010

Family businesses may miss out on insurance tax credits; Doctors' angry with Congress

The Boston Globe explores a largely overlooked provision in the tax credits offered to small businesses by the new health law to help cover the costs of insuring workers. "[M]any Massachusetts small business owners who employ mostly family members are discovering fine print in the new law that disqualifies, or substantially limits, their tax credit. That language says family-owned businesses are not allowed to count employees who are also family members toward the credit, which is retroactive to January.

31 May 2010

Model to help investigators make "socially responsible decisions" in community-based health research

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant to investigators at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics to study obligations researchers may have to provide ancillary health care unrelated to their study while working in impoverished settings.

29 May 2010

Congress needs to replace current outdated Medicare payment system

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine, representing over 100,000 specialty physicians nationwide, released the following statement on Congress's unwillingness to improve and permanently fix the Medicare reimbursement system:

29 May 2010

Children's Health Fund honors Joan Baez, James L. Dolan, and Jane Pauley

On Wednesday, June 2, 2010, Joan Baez, James L. Dolan, and Jane Pauley will be honored by the Children's Health Fund (CHF) for their exceptional support of CHF—the nation's leading pediatric provider of mobile-based health care to homeless and low-income children and their families—and for efforts advocating for the health and well-being of children in the United States. The benefit will be held in New York City and will include a performance by CHF Co-Founder Paul Simon and honoree Joan Baez and a special appearance by NBC's Tom Brokaw.

29 May 2010

Various aspects of consumer genetics to be discussed at 2nd Annual Consumer Genetics Conference

At the 2nd Annual Consumer Genetics Conference taking place in Boston from June 2-4 at the Hynes Convention Center, these issues will be addressed and preeminent leaders from varying areas of expertise will provide perspectives on these crucial topics that are shaping the way we approach clinical medicine and helping to improve patient outcomes.

29 May 2010

Congress needs to save Medicare, TRICARE programs for seniors, military families

"The Senate has turned its back on seniors, and America's physicians are outraged that Congress has deserted patients by failing to address this year's Medicare cut before the June 1 deadline. Senators are more interested in heading home for the holiday than in preventing a Medicare meltdown for seniors. The 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has been looming all year, and yet all Congress has managed to do is repeated short-term delays.

29 May 2010

HHS awards $15M to create new center for health information and privacy at University of Illinois

Slowly but steadily the U.S. health care community is moving into the digital age: shifting their medical records from paper to electronic information systems. This movement raises serious concerns about security and privacy of patients' medical information. In an attempt to put these concerns to rest, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $15 million to create a new center for health information and privacy.

29 May 2010

Anthem launches new "modernized" Medicare Supplement plans

Today Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine (Anthem) introduced new "modernized" Medicare Supplement plans that have been updated to consider the needs of today's Medicare beneficiaries.

29 May 2010

AHA Solutions announces launch of 2010 Patient Flow Challenges Assessment

AHA Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of The American Hospital Association (AHA), today announced the launch of its 2010 Patient Flow Challenges Assessment (PFCA). The PFCA measures a range of critical issues across eight key stages of the patient flow process: pre-admission, admission, diagnostics, procedures, treatment, recovery, discharge, post-discharge and Home. Data from the survey is compiled into a report that provides valuable insights into the leading patient throughput and capacity management challenges facing today's hospitals.

29 May 2010

Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science's LABCON2010 to be held in Edmonton

LABCON2010, the national congress of the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS), will bring together laboratory professionals from across the country. The conference will be held in Edmonton, AB from May 28 - June 1, 2010 at the Mayfield Inn & Suites.

29 May 2010

Senate passes supplemental spending bill that includes Haiti relief, recovery funding

The Senate has passed a nearly $60 billion supplemental spending bill that includes funding for Haiti relief and recovery from the January 12 earthquake, Roll Call reports (Brady, 5/27). The total amount included in the bill for Haiti is $2.8 billion dollars, Agence France-Presse reports (5/28).

29 May 2010

Surveys find increased awareness about tobacco marketing among young women in Bangladesh, Thailand, Uruguay

"With half of all men in some developing countries already hooked on cigarettes, the tobacco industry is now courting lucrative new customers - young women," according to a report published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the Associated Press/Los Angeles Times reports.

29 May 2010

Developing countries must have food production capacity to avoid food price crisis, U.S. official says

Factors that resulted in higher food prices in several countries in 2008, such as food scarcity and the use of land for biofuels, are still present and could cause prices to rise again without food production improvements in developing countries, Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. food agencies in Rome, said in an interview with Reuters.

29 May 2010

State roundup: Employees' insurance rates, a hospital merger, Florida and Mass. public health issues

Today's roundup of state news includes changes in insurance rates for Kansas state employees, problems with EMT certification in Massachusetts and a hospital merger in the Washington D.C. area.

29 May 2010

Health Care News and Research

Health law mandates higher Medicare payment for osteoporosis tests

Women unaware of their heart disease risk: Report

Problems patients experience due to dental or skin conditions often misunderstood by care providers

Ontario's doctors call for renewed effort in fight against tobacco

IMRT avoids xerostomia, but effectiveness on controlling cancer unclear

Overall increase of cesarean births not due to maternal request

Family businesses may miss out on insurance tax credits; Doctors' angry with Congress

Model to help investigators make "socially responsible decisions" in community-based health research

Congress needs to replace current outdated Medicare payment system

Children's Health Fund honors Joan Baez, James L. Dolan, and Jane Pauley

Various aspects of consumer genetics to be discussed at 2nd Annual Consumer Genetics Conference

Congress needs to save Medicare, TRICARE programs for seniors, military families

HHS awards $15M to create new center for health information and privacy at University of Illinois

Anthem launches new "modernized" Medicare Supplement plans

AHA Solutions announces launch of 2010 Patient Flow Challenges Assessment

Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science's LABCON2010 to be held in Edmonton

Senate passes supplemental spending bill that includes Haiti relief, recovery funding

Surveys find increased awareness about tobacco marketing among young women in Bangladesh, Thailand, Uruguay

Developing countries must have food production capacity to avoid food price crisis, U.S. official says

State roundup: Employees' insurance rates, a hospital merger, Florida and Mass. public health issues

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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